Watching the World
Persecutor’s Doublespeak
◆ “Nonsense,” said Malawi’s ambassador in South Africa to charges that his country persecutes Jehovah’s Witnesses. But then Mr. N.T. Mizere went on to say that “they have nothing to fear . . . as long as they are prepared to renounce their membership of the movement.” Kenya’s Eastern Province Herald reports: “Mr. Mizere confirmed that the movement was banned in Malawi, but said he was not in a position to give the precise reasons for the banning.”
No doubt it would be embarrassing to admit that the Witnesses’ only offense is their refusal, as neutrals, to become card-carrying members of President Banda’s only legal political party. “All I can say,” said Mizere, “is that it was not in the national interest to allow such a movement to continue in existence.” Asked about the punishment for being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, he said: “It is a criminal offence to belong to a banned organisation, but the precise sentence will depend on the facts of each particular case.” Thousands have been kept in concentration-camp-style detention and separated from their children.
Insulted Pigs
◆ “Should We Vaccinate the Pigs?” asks the title of a recent Science magazine article. Since the outbreak of “swine flu” at Fort Dix, New Jersey, both the World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have raised the possibility of trying to stop the disease at its probable source—the pigs. However, says Science, this notion “does not sit well with the pig producers. Instead of seeing the human population threatened by a pig disease, they tend to see the pigs threatened by human disease.” In fact, the National Live Stock and Meat Board “has been loudly protesting the use of the phrase ‘swine flu’” suggesting instead the geographical name “New Jersey flu” in the tradition of “Hong Kong flu,” and so forth. New Jersey officials “declined the honor.”
Leaning Tower Safe
◆ The tragic earthquake that struck northern Italy in May also shook the Leaning Tower of Pisa, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) from the worst damaged area. But the 800-year-old tower was not damaged and its tilt—17 feet (5 meters) off center—remained the same. Officials were pleased with the tower’s “elasticity.”
“Saint” in Politics
◆ When the dried blood of their resident “Saint” Januarius failed to liquefy on schedule in May, Catholics of Naples feared imminent disaster. The local archbishop, Cardinal Ursi, claimed that the problem was “neopaganism which impedes Christian life.” His flock reportedly understood this to mean that the still-solid blood reflected Januarius’ disapproval of the rise of Italy’s Communists and their political campaigning in the recent elections.
Smallest Performers
◆ Atoms in action are said to have been filmed for the first time. A scanning electron microscope that magnifies 10 million times was used to photograph relatively large uranium atoms. Two University of Chicago physicists recently displayed the 30-second movie.
Sins of the Fathers
◆ Japanese children have become sad victims of the recent bribery scandal involving huge sums paid by a U.S. aircraft manufacturer to get business in Japan. Children of workers employed by the Japanese agency involved are the butt of a new schoolyard game called “Testimony.” They “are forced to repeat, ‘I have no memory of it,’ just as their fathers’ bosses did at parliamentary hearings,” reports the Daily Yomiuri.
Cancer’s Achilles’ Heel?
◆ Blood flows through tumors only about 2 to 15 percent as rapidly as through normal tissue. Researchers are now using this fact experimentally to kill certain cancerous tumors by heat, while leaving normal tissue unharmed, according to The Journal of the American Medical Association. Radio-frequency-induced heat, similar to that produced by microwave ovens, was directed at tumors in test subjects. The surrounding tissue remained relatively unharmed because of radiator-like cooling action by its rapidly moving blood supply. But the tumors’ sluggish blood allowed their temperatures to rise 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit above that of the surrounding tissue, killing them. Patients also felt virtually no pain from the treatment.
Gas in the Air
◆ It is estimated that up to 60 out of every 10,000 gallons (227 out of every 37,853 liters) of gasoline pumped are lost between oil company supply tanks and auto fuel tanks. How? Well, when 10,000 gallons of gas are pumped into a delivery truck, between 10 and 20 gallons of gasoline are forced into the air as vapor. Then, when the tanker fills local service stations, the same thing happens, as it also does when filling your car’s tank. You may have noticed the quivering vapor rising from the tank’s neck. To stop this waste, the state of California now requires special nozzles and recovery equipment at all stages, hoping to save about 28 million gallons (106 million liters) of gasoline annually. Another benefit is reduced air pollution.
Sheep “Shearers”
◆ People near Bonn, West Germany, who like to have their lawns mowed and fertilized noiselessly, without human or mechanical effort, are doing business with a venturesome agricultural student. She has set up a “Rent-a-Sheep” business that offers to rent hungry grass-shearers for less than $8 each per season. Hundreds have already been rented to individuals, businesses and even a school. They agree to keep at least five sheep on about an acre (.4 hectare) or more for the entire season. The young entrepreneur hopes to profit, not from the rental fee, but from the sale of grass-fattened sheep to butchers and breeders in the fall.
Pace of the City
◆ Do big-city people rush around more than those who live in smaller towns? Yes, according to a study recently reported in Britain’s Nature magazine. People from big cities such as New York, Prague and Munich were found to walk, on the average, more than twice as fast as those from the smallest cities studied—5.5 feet per second, compared with 2.7 feet per second. The researchers said that the faster pace of big-city walkers held true for all six countries checked. They theorized that people move more quickly in crowded situations in an effort to reduce tensions that come from crowding.
China Recycles
◆ China recently began importing solid human waste from Hong Kong to use both as fertilizer and as a source of methane gas. The gas is for home lighting.
Blood Blunders
◆ It was “just a pure goof,” declared a Milwaukee County General Hospital official when an open-heart surgery patient recently died of “massive transfusion reaction.” He called the transfusing of a wrong blood type “a very serious mistake . . . by one of our employes.”
When another person, in England, received two units of blood, he developed severe skin and itching reactions, along with chest pain and low blood pressure. Why? Tracing the blood back to its source, one of the donors was found to have similar symptoms after eating fish, beans or peas. The patient had eaten these things during two days prior to his transfusion. The report in the British Medical Journal attributed his reaction to “passive sensitization to these foods by transfusion of blood from the [allergic] donor.”
Horse Comeback
◆ In Oregon a pair of trained farm horses that cost about $500 four years ago are up to as much as $5,000 now. And demand is high. Why? Mechanized equipment and fuel costs have shot up so much that many small farmers are reconsidering the horse. “The horses eat hay grown on the property,” says veteran trainer L. L. Rumgay. “They mostly heal themselves when something is wrong. They provide fertilizer for the farm, and they reproduce themselves.” Another benefit, he says, is that “these horses will put in a good day’s work from the time they are two years old until they are 16 or 18. Find me a tractor that will work that long on little or no maintenance.”
Brainy Babies
◆ Prolonged maternal contact with babies during the first three days after birth improves their speech and brain power, according to a study conducted from Case-Western Reserve School of Medicine. Mothers who received the usual limited hospital contact with their babies were found to have less interest in and affection for their infants than those who had more contact. The “intimate” mothers went on to spend more time talking to their babies as they grew up. By age five, their babies “had a richer vocabulary, better comprehension, and could understand more complex and mature language,” noted Dr. Normel Ringler. “And they registered higher scores on the IQ tests.”
“Love” in Church
◆ When a famous Brazilian faith healer spoke at the inauguration of the new “God Is Love” church near Rio de Janeiro, emotions other than love apparently were stirred. Some of the 2,000 persons packed into the building reportedly started saying that he was an impostor. During the ensuing quarrel, 21 people were crushed to death and 29 others injured.
Back in the U.S., brotherly love collapsed at Peter and Paul Catholic Church of Great Meadows, Pennsylvania. Two members objected to the classical music played at the morning service, saying it was “pagan.” They allegedly backed up their complaint with loud and offensive language and banging on the organ. The organist’s father reportedly backed her up by knocking one of the objectors unconscious, receiving two broken fingers and a broken joint in his hand in return.
Technology Helps Crime
◆ Counterfeiters in Japan have discovered a way to make their work almost undetectable. A counterfeit 10,000 Yen ($33) note made on a photocopy machine and retouched with colored pencils “was so detailed,” says Tokyo’s Daily Yomiuri, “that even a police officer in charge of fake notes could not distinguish it from a genuine note in a dimly lit place.” Because of the highly sophisticated printing technology involved, Printing Bureau officials had declared the notes to be counterfeit-proof when they were issued in 1958. Now they fear what will happen when counterfeiters try out the new color photocopy machines.
Clergy on the Warpath
◆ English Catholic priest Thomas Tryers, serving in Ghana, “has declared at Tamale that guerrilla warfare is the ‘quickest, surest and safest way’ of gaining the total liberation of Africa,” reports the Ghanaian Times. The paper notes that Tryers was “recently awarded the Grand Medal for his contribution to education and missionary work.”
Similarly, an African Methodist bishop who has vowed to “carry the war of liberation to the bitter end,” cited pressing “liberation” work to excuse himself from a recent world conference of United Methodist bishops. Conference leaders cautiously noted that their colleague’s turn to violence probably came “out of his commitment and obedience to the Christian faith.” One said that in spite of theological objections, the point comes “when no longer can an armed struggle be avoided” to free “oppressed people.” Was that Christ’s way?
Skateboard Fad’s Toll
◆ The number of American skateboarders admitted for hospital treatment jumped nine times in 1975 from the year before, to an estimated 27,500. There are eight deaths on government record. The National Safety Council advises skateboarders to stay off all streets and any driveways that slope into streets.